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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says he feels ‘better than before’ about a month after suffering a heart attack.

Rybak made the comments Sunday on WCCO-TV (http://cbsloc.al/MCXAEXhttp://cbsloc.al/MCXAEX ). He says he is feeling good and has more energy.

Rybak also says that the signs of a heart attack weren’t quite what he expected. He said he thought a heart attack would feel like a stabbing in the chest. But instead, he says it felt like an elephant was on his chest and he couldn’t breathe.

He says he had a heart attack because of genetics - but because of his healthy lifestyle, he had zero heart damage.

He says it’s a reminder that it’s important to stay healthy and stay in shape.

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Frustrated with Minn. law, brewery to open in Wis.

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. (AP) - The owner of a brewpub in New Brighton is frustrated with a Minnesota law that says he can’t sell his craft beer on store shelves - so he’s decided to build a new brewery across the border in Wisconsin.

John Moore, owner of Barley John’s Brew Pub, plans to break ground this spring on a new 10,000-barrel brewery in New Richmond, Wis., and hopes to start selling beer in the fall. His brewpub has been making beer for 14 years and has won awards, yet some craft beer aficionados have never heard of Barley John’s because it’s not on tap in other bars or sold in liquor and beer stores, he said.

“I think we make really, really good beer here, but few people have an opportunity to get at it because of the limitations in the state’s requirements,” Moore told the St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/M2hh9ghttp://bit.ly/M2hh9g ).

Minnesota’s limits on brewpubs are part of a three-tiered system of alcohol sales in the state, said Dan Schwarz, president of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. The system separates producers, distributors and retailers, and was meant to prevent large-scale breweries from having too much power over the retail market.

Minnesota’s laws on alcohol sales saw some loosening in 2011, when legislation known as the “Surly Bill” allowed breweries to open taprooms to serve beer on site. But Moore said the legislation didn’t help brewpubs, which could already serve beer on site.

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Scrutiny of PolyMet proposal turns to cleanup

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - One of the most contentious issues in the debate over whether Minnesota should allow PolyMet Mining Corp. to build the state’s first copper-nickel mine is whether the company can cover cleanup costs after it closes.

PolyMet says it can. But critics of the project say the record of mining companies elsewhere is replete with bankruptcies and environmental disasters that have left taxpayers on the hook for tens of billions of dollars.

A Minnesota House committee will look Tuesday at whether the financial assurance package can be structured to protect taxpayers now and potentially centuries into the future. Legislative staffers have a long list of tough questions that Department of Natural Resources officials will be asked to address. PolyMet officials and critics all plan to testify, and the hearing will be streamed live on the House website.

“The discussion about financial assurance really belongs to all Minnesotans because if any decisions are made that don’t work out as intended, then Minnesotans will pay for the mistakes,” said Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, chairwoman of the panel.

“The challenge here is can a mining operation put enough money on the table to take care of any problems and still be profitable?” she said.

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As curling alternate, Pottinger scouts competition

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - As an alternate on the U.S. women’s curling team, Allison Pottinger of Eden Prairie knows she might never throw a rock in Russia.

And she’s OK with that.

Pottinger could be activated if there’s a disaster, The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported from Sochi, Russia, (http://bit.ly/1fVW4bPhttp://bit.ly/1fVW4bP ). But unlike other reserve players, Pottinger expects to stay on the sidelines as a cheerleader.

“I’m going in not expecting to play; you don’t want to disrupt that chemistry,” she said. “It’s possible I could get tapped on the shoulder to jump in. But I’m always paying attention to how the team is feeling and playing and try to support them, what shots I would play, from a rock standpoint.

“I’ll do a lot of scouting and see what other teams are doing and what we should do. There are a million things that go on during these weeks; having an extra body certainly helps.”